Flynn Into the Woods
by Whytegriffin
Summary: So, this all started with the meme floating around the Internet saying "Plot twist: Flynn a Rider ends up in Narnia" it's not my fault! After being shoved into the closet by Rapunzel, Flynn finds himself in another land with dryads, nyads, and a talking Lion, one who has charged him to save a princess from an evil woman who may not have been unaware of the wardrobes properties
1. Chapter 1

"Well, how shall I paint this old wardrobe?" Rapunzel sighed dismally to herself. Mother had shut her down. Again. She was afraid that she was never going to get out of that tower, never going to see where the floating lights came from, which was all that she really wanted to see anyway. Pascal grunted and shrugged. He didn't care at the moment. He was tired of Rapunzel's mother and he was regretting those five cookies - Rapunzel had only seen him take one. She would never have let him eat five. Maybe it was just as well that Gothel had said no, because in this state he couldn't move a muscle. Oh well, at this rate Rapunzel wasn't going anywhere. Ever. Above him Rapunzel gasped. "Pascal, do you hear that?" She hissed. Pascal arched his back and rolled his eyes. What? There was nothing to - there was someone grunting outside of the window, someone who did not sound like Rapunzel's mother. He didn't even notice Rapunzel get up and run to the kitchen, grabbing a frying pan. She tiptoed to the window, standing out of plain sight. Whoever was coming was almost to the top. Rapunzel waved her hand at the chameleon and he immediately chamouflaged himself with the floor. More heavy breathing and gasping, and - Rapunzel had never heard a voice that deep before. It must be a - a man. He leapt in through the window and slammed the shutters behind him. He was so tall, and his hair seemed so short, and his shoulders were so broad - Rapunzel wasn't about to wait to judge him from the front. He breathed a sigh of relief.

"Alone at last." He said. That's what you think. Said Rapunzel to herself, hefting her frying pan and whaling him in the head with it. She didn't see the ridiculous look on his face as he dropped. She squeaked and ran for the nearest cover - just in case that hadn't been quite enough. He didn't move. She cautiously stepped forward and nudged his head with the frying pan. No reaction. Rapunzel looked to Pascal for guideance, but her chameleon friend merely shrugged. Rapunzel let out a sigh and tipped his head to the side. His face was - quite a nice shape. To Pascal again, who pattered to Gothel's crude floor art and illustrated that she should make sure he didn't have pointy teeth. Rapunzel used the handle to lift up his lip - but there were no pointy teeth. Could mother be wrong? Now she was curious. She flipped back the tail of hair that covered his left eye and gasped softly. He was - just - quite - wow. And beautiful. Rapunzel would love to draw that face! Just then he moaned and opened his eyes in shock. Rapunzel gasped and brought her weapon right back down on his head.

Had that killed him? It didn't look like it, but he was breathing kind of funny. Rapunzel rolled her eyes and draped her hair over him, singing the song absently as she looked for a place to hide the stranger. With mother surprise always seemed to be the best strategy. Now if she could open a door and let him step out - or fall out - to show mother that she could handle herself - the wardrobe, of course! Now, how to get him in... She tied her hair under his arms and dragged him toward it.

Oof, she hadn't realize that he would be this heavy! Ugh. How -(huff)- far -(huff)- was it - to that wardrobe - oh. Rapunzel leaned against the doors for a minute to catch her breath. Now - how was she going to get him in there? She unwrapped the stranger and looked from him to the closet and back. Maybe if she pushed him in fast enough? Worth a shot. He was already flipped over from Rapunzel moving her hair so she grabbed his boots and tried to push him in. No. Too far up. She should have known better. She looped her hair over one of the rafters and tied the end under his arms again. Then she climbed up into the rafters and tried swinging him into the closet. Yes! Yes, it worked...but her hair was stuck inside. Ugh! Strangers were more trouble then they were worth. What next? She wondered, leaning deafeatedly against the doors. When she opened the doors he fell out again. Great. Rapunzel tried to salvage the fall by shoving him back, but his arms and legs were in the way - and he was upside down. He was quite the heavy sleeper. She shoved him in enough to turn him around, but he wouldn't stay that way. Too long. She grunted and pushed and shoved his face up and finally shut the door. Well! That was that. Simple enough - until he fell forward, opening the doors and squashing her. Ugh, this was getting old! Rapunzel worked herself out from under the stranger, grabbed the broom and used it to shove him back into the closet. Finally he was in - Rapunzel slammed the doors shut, and this time they stayed! Good. Now she was ready - oooh. His fingers were slammed in the door. That had to hurt, but she wasn't about to risk him falling out again. Maybe if she just poked them back inside...he should be fine. Just to be safe, she grabbed her arm chair and jammed the doors shut with it. Now lets see him get out! Now...let the panic settle. She had just done what?!

"Okay, okay, okay, okay. I've got a person in my closet. I've got a person in my closet... I've got a person in my closet! Haha. Too weak to handle myself, huh, mother?" She rehearsed to herself in the mirror, dusting off her faithful frying pan. "Well! Just tell that to my frying pa- owe!" Note to self, do not spin frying on your finger. As she rubbed her forehead she saw in the mirror that the thief's satchel had fallen open, and something was sparkling inside.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Flynn groaned softly and tried to flex his fingers. Why on earth did he feel so sore? Something had hit him from behind and his head - actually didn't hurt. That was odd since his arms and back and especially his fingers felt like he had been slammed in a door several times. Where was he? Going by the rod across the top of his prison, the fabric hanging from it and the hooks on the walls he must be in someone's closet. He heard a voice outside of the doors. A young woman. Great. And his satchel was missing. Even better. Flynn frowned and rubbed his face. What the heck was he going to do now? Maybe he could pry the boards in the back loose and sneak out that way as long as it wasn't too tight against the wall. Flynn reached back through the clothes and found more. Big closet. Well, he hadn't had much time to really look the place over, and if this was a woman's closet then the size wasn't remarkable at all. He kept going. A third row? Now this was getting a little crazy. Was this some lady's stash of over-priced ball gowns for a rainy day or...ouche! That wasn't fabric. Flynn thought he knew what it felt like, but was it really what he thought? He reached forward again and he picked up a clean, fresh scent. Pine needles? There were no pine trees in the forest, let alone in this little canyon; he would have noticed a seventy-plus-foot tall pine tree he. Suddenly Flynn stepped out into sunlight and his jaw dropped open. This was nowhere near to the tower that he had climbed - nowhere anywhere near Corona, for that matter! The trees weren't very big, the forest looked young yet. Was he in another kingdom? And if he was...hoooowwww did he get there? He just knew that he hadn't been out for that long, he wasn't even hungry, let alone starved like he should have been If he had been transported several miles. This was like nowhere that he had ever seen. There was something different about this place. It seemed more fresh, more alive. It was almost like...even though it was crazy...it was like he was in a different world. Maybe he was insane, or maybe he was still passed out and he was in a strange dream. He couldn't tell. Flynn shrugged to himself and started sidling off into the woods. Suddenly he stopped. He thought he had heard...no, once again that was insane...but no, he had heard it. A rich, low voice singing like a brook rippling over stones. It was beautiful and unearthly. Had he believed in fairies or anything like that, well, the first thing that came into his head when he heard the voice was the tales of water nymphs in fairy tales that he once read. As suddenly as it had started the voice died away, and Flynn started walking again; slowly and trying to keep himself hidden behind the trees. On the off chance that he was mistaken and he had visited this kingdom before, whatever it was, he was sure that such a trip must have been memorable for its people. The forest seemed uninhabbited, but that didn't mean that it was. The tower should have been empty too.

"Hello." Flynn froze and turned quickly to see a young willow tree behind him. A second later he realized that it had a smiling face, and the next second he saw a young girl standing behind him. "Hello." She repeated herself. "I've never seen you in my wood before."

"Well I uh - I really don't think I've been here before."

"Are you one of the King's men? You don't look like a Narnian."

" King's men? Never. What's a Narnian?"

"Well, I'm a Narnian, but I am not a daughter of Eve as the king and his wife and his men are. I am of this world. If you do not understand that then you are clearly not from here." She giggled, swishing around him. Suddenly she was behind him and suddenly again she was before him. "I am Nera. What is your name?"

"Uh F-Flynn Rider."

"Strange name. What brought you into Narnia?"

"I - don't know. Look, this is pretty crazy. Am I dreaming?"

"Dreaming? Why would you be?"

"Um, because you're a...a..."

"Wood nymph. Of course I am, why should that surprise you? I was just singing with my friend the nyad."

"Those aren't real."

"I beg your pardon?"

"I - I have to go." Flynn mumbled, backing up and stumbling over every root and brush in his path.

"Where? You don't seem to know your way."

"Somewhere...back?"

"Back where?"

"To Corona."

"Corona?"

"Yeah."

"Your country?"

"Uhuh." Flynn sputtered.

"Who are you visiting here in Narnia?"

"No one!" He snapped, tripping again. He tried to get up, but this time his foot was caught in a tree root. "Listen, it was an accident." he continued, frantically trying to free himself. "I have no idea what I'm doing here, so if you could just show me...the way...back..." He grunted the last words as his boot finally came free. But when he looked up, the tree girl suddenly had quite a different expression on her face.

"When people came to Narnia before who were not of our world some were good, but others quite wicked. I do not think that He would have let you come into Narnia without some great purpose."

"What? What are you talking about?"

"The Son of the Emperor beyond the sea. Aslan Himself."

"Oh no. I am not meeting with the son of some king. Talk about having a death wish. Look, it's been - uhh - great talking, but I have to go. I really really have to go back and get -"

"What, son Adam?" Flynn heard the voice, deep and beautiful and terrible all at once before he realized that it had come from a lion. But because he was so suddenly scared stiff at the sight of what he thought must be a terrible wild beast he did not even see straight away that the Lion's lips were moving. Flynn spread his arms out protectively and somehow forced himself to turn his head. He was gong to tell the tree girl to run, but she was nowhere to be seen, although he suddenly thought that he could hear her laughter in the leaves above his head. "Who are you fleeing that you fear the son of a king? What is it that you must return to your own world to fetch?" The deep velvet voice continued.

"Not...not fetch, sir." Flynn stammered. Sir? He never called anyone sir, much less a lion! "I just...I have to go back, I don't belong here."

"You are right to say that you do not belong here. One man who steals from another can have no place in my Kingdom."

"I don't want a place in your kingdom. I want to go back where I came from."

"I want that for you as well, son of Adam, though I doubt much that we are thinking of the same places; but what is done is done. There can be no going back."

"But you just said-" Flynn started and then stopped. A talking lion was confusing enough. What he was saying made even less sense. The Lion smiled and continued. "I will show you the way back to your world, but before that I have three tasks for you."

"Of...course." He studdered again.

"The time is coming and is near. You must go back to your world quickly and rescue a princess. But you must bring her here with you."

"Wait wait wait. Stop right there. I don't rescue people."

"Don't you? You just tried to protect the dryad from me when you thought me to be a beast."

"That...that has nothing to do with it."

"Doesn't it? Does it not show the lingering of virtue hidden in your heart?"

"I don't have anything like that." Flynn boasted.

"Because you are a thief?"

"I barely have time to look after myself, I can't waste my time looking out for other people too - and what makes you think that I'm a thief?"

"Then your time is worthless." The Lion admonished him, ignoring the question. "You have acquired very little merit in your life, Eugene Fitzherbert." The cocky look on Flynn's face fell away and his arms uncrossed themselves, dropping to his sides like wet noodles.

"How do you know my name?" He gasped.

"I have known you from the first moment of your existence, young one. I have watched you and formed you, and many times you have run from me. And now what you started as an evil I will turn into a greater good."

"Evil? Look, I've never done anything-"

"You stole an item of great price, wicked enough in its own right, but with it you have stolen the hopes and dreams of a destitute mother and father and of a whole people."

"Incompetent people." Eugene grunted.

"But a people nevertheless. Do you think, Eugene Fitzherbert, that this king and queen are not so different from yourself?"

"Phh, yeah. They have a kingdom and a palace, servants -"

"But no family. Their child, the only child that they were capable of having, was taken unjustly from them, just as your family was taken from you."

"If you know so much about it then why didn't you stop it?" Eugene snapped bitterly. He immediately felt guilty for talking to this Lion in such a way. Who did he think himself, snapping rudely to a - someone that made him wonder so, that inspired awe, and dread and courage and hope with His very breath and speech, with His very un-animal eyes.

"Because I give you the will to choose, a right that I can not take from you without turning you into dumb animals. But from the will of the wicked I will raise men from the dust and bring them to a far greater glory then I had planned for them in ages before." Eugene swallowed hard and nodded.

"Then what do you want of me, sir? You said that there are three tasks."

"You will go through these woods here, I will send the dryad to be your guide, and you must bring a princess back here with you."

"But how will I get-"

"Take her by the hand and lead her, because she is in grave danger."

"I don't know where this princess is."

"It is she who sent you here."

"I - Well, actually I didn't see anyone. Everything went black all of the sudden and then I was in a closet that led out to here. Maybe I'm dreaming. Or drunk. That would explain why I'm talking to a lion."

"I assure you that you are indeed talking to a lion. In Narnia it is no greater thing than talking to a man in your world. The princess doesn't know much about the world outside of her, but she knows much wickedness, a wickedness that has come many times into this land. A wickedness that you must route out. Will you accept?"

"Yes, sir." There was that sir again.

"You will know your tasks by three signs. You are neither the first nor the last whom I will test in this way."

"But what-"

"The first sign is this; When she first sets foot in Narnia, she will meet an old and dear friend."

"How?" Flynn interrupted while the Lion had paused for only a moment. "Has she been here before?"

"It is no affair of yours, Eugene," the thief cringed when the Lion used that name. "But she has not. She will know this friend none the less for she knew him once, long ago. The princess must speak to this friend immediately, for what he can tell you will serve to help you on this quest."

"Sir, how can she be a princess? I climbed into What I thought was a deserted tower."

"Was it so deserted? But listen well, son of Adam. You will listen and repeat these signs until you know them. The second is this. You shall journey South with her until you have at last come upon my people." Flynn stood there staring at the Lion, still not sure if this was real. How could a Lion be talking to him? Who on God's green earth - or 'Narnia' apparently, were this lion's people? How would he go South when he didn't even know where South was in this land? What if it was the complete opposite of back home, or even worse just all twisty? Flynn of course realized that this was the worse case scenario, but it did not stop him from thinking about it. "The third is this." The lion said continued, having waited for Flynn's thought pattern to slow down a bit. "When at last you have reached there, your only hope will be that asked in the name of Aslan." Aslan. That was new. Who was Aslan? What is this all about, Flynn kept wondering. "In this way I have given you a quest to save many inhabitants of Narnia from a dread fate indeed."

"Who are these Narnians?"

"You have met one in the dryad. Most of those you will meet are birds and beasts."

"What?!"

"They are not dumb beasts, son of Adam. Some of them are wiser than you. I say some, for without the foolishness of many others there would be no need for your help."

"I don't understand."

"In time enough, son of Adam, you will understand. But be warned. A great evil will pursue you even into Narnia and drive you into temptation. Be strong against it, Eugene Fitzherbert."

"But why can't you just stop it?"

"I love you too much to turn any one of you into a dumb beast, son of Adam. Now. The day is getting on. Repeat the signs to me, Eugene." Flynn opened his mouth, stuttering. He hadn't payed too close attention. The Lion sighed loudly, placing a paw on his shoulder and shaking his great mane with the strangest touch of sympathy. "You will learn, son of Adam. In the next few days, you will remember who you are. You will remember that which is truly valuable. I will repeat the signs to you. I will stay with you until you learn them well. The first sign is this..."


End file.
